1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved fence for containing livestock or the like. More particularly, the fence according to this invention is formed from concrete or similar stone-like materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that livestock must often be confined in suitable pens, corrals, or the like. Hogs are one type of animal which can have a very deleterious effect on the fencing comprising the pens. For example, when hogs are kept in tight confinement, they have a tendency to eat almost everything. It has been found that such hogs will often eat wood when kept tightly confined. Thus, wood is an inappropriate material for use in the fences or pens in which the hogs are confined since the hogs will often eat their way through the fence or damage it at the very least. Similarly, steel and other metals are not a suitable fencing material for hogs. This is so because steel is susceptible to being corroded by the acids contained in the waste materials of the hogs.
Concrete is one type of material which has been proposed for use in hog fences. Concrete is an advantageous material for such a purpose as it can't be eaten by the hogs and is generally resistant to degradation by the acids in the waste of the hogs. One type of concrete hog fence previously used has been one in which the walls of the fence have been simply poured-in situ, i.e. the concrete is placed in its "wet" form in a configuration corresponding to the desired fence and then is allowed to dry or cure. Such poured-in-situ pens, although effective for containing the hogs, do not have a great deal of versatility. In other words, poured-in-situ pens inherently have only one configuration corresponding to that configuration in which the walls of the pen were initially poured. If the farmer should have need of a different pen configuration or a pen located on a different site, then a totally new poured-in-situ pen must be formed. This is an expensive and undesirable procedure.
Certain livestock fences have been made from pre-cast concrete components, i.e. pre-cast posts and panels, rather than comprising poured-in-situ walls. Such pre-cast fences are of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,068 to Koehl, U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,638 to O'Connor, and Australian Patent No. 10,696 to Cloughton. However, the prefabricated fences proposed in these patents also have a number of disadvantages. For example, some of these patents disclose that the posts of the fence must be embedded in the ground. This is undesirable since it necessarily involves the digging of post holes and the insertion of the posts into the holes. This increases the amount of labor needed to erect or to dismantle the fence. In addition, since the posts are embedded in the ground which requires a considerable amount of effort to dismantle the fence and re-erect it at a different location, the farmer is discouraged from changing the location of the fence once it is first established. Thus, the versatility which would otherwise have been exhibited by the fence is somewhat diluted because of the necessity to embed the posts.
The patent to Koehl discloses the use of a hog fence having pre-cast concrete posts which are free-standing rather than being embedded in the ground. A plurality of concrete panels or rail assembly members are received between adjacent posts. Koehl discloses that the concrete panels should be secured to the posts by means of L-shaped mounting brackets. These brackets transfer the weight of the panels to the posts which further enables the posts to be free-standing. However, the panels must be lifted up off the ground to attach them to the posts which may be a difficult operation if the panels are heavy. In addition, when the panels are heavy and must be lifted, they must also be held off the ground while the brackets on the posts and the panels are aligned and the securing members, such as bolts, connected therethrough. These operations of lifting and aligning the panels and posts may be quite difficult to accomplish and would probably require that a number of people be available to help erect the fence. Thus, while Koehl discloses a pre-cast fence in which the posts are not embedded, the fence of Koehl may be difficult to assemble.